Viva Colombia is an airline company founded on September 16, 2009. The airline company commenced its operations on May 25, 2012. It is a low-cost Colombian airline based in Rionegro, Colombia. The airline company is a subsidiary of Irelandia Aviation and the third-largest airline in the country. This airline company has its hubs in Alfonso Bonilla Aragon International airport, Jose Maria Cordova International Airport, and El Dorado International airport.

History

This airline company is a part of the Irelandia Aviation investment fund, a leading low-cost airline developer. On May 9, 2017, Viva Air Peru, a Peruvian subsidiary airline, was launched, with which the expansion process throughout Latin America began. Viva Colombia changed its name from Viva Colombia to Viva Air Colombia in April 2018. It also expanded its model in Latin America, and within the entire expansion plan, Santa Marta was announced as the third center of all the operations in Colombia. This operation center was enabled in October 2018 with routes not covered by other airline companies, such as Santa Marta, Bucaramanga, Pereira, and San Andres.

Interline agreements Air Transat

The airline company has an interline agreement with Air Transat, a Canadian Airline based in Montreal. It was founded in 1986 and is the third largest airline behind WestJet and Air Canada. It operates 60 destinations in 25 countries. This airline company was founded in December 1986 and commenced operations on November 14, 1987.

Viva Aerobus

This airline company was founded in 2006, and it is a low-cost Mexican airline wholly owned by the largest bus company group in Mexico. It is based at Monterrey International Airport, and it started operations in November 2006 with one nonstop service. It offers more than 130 routes in more than 40 destinations. It serves the destinations such as Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States. Viva Aerobus was co-owned by Ryanair’sIrelandia Aviation and the Mexican Bus company IAMSA. Ryanair joined with Alexander Maurice Mason of Kite Investments to establish Ryanmex to facilitate the Irish Family’s investment in Mexican Airlines.

Viva Aerobus fares were intended to undercut traditional Mexican Carriers by up to 50 percent. The airline started operations at Monterrey International Airport in November 2006 with two aircraft and one nonstop service connecting Monterrey to Tijuana. In April 2010, the airline company began serving Mexico’s capital with two flights. The airline company also served Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Viva Aerobus signed an agreement to order 52 Airbus A320S in October 2013 for $5.1 billion.

Viva Aerobus operates a shuttle bus from El Paso, Texas, to the Abraham Gonzalez International Airport. It also operates a bus shuttle between Austin-Bergstrom International Airport South Terminal and Omnibus Mexicanos Bus Terminal.

Fleet (Viva Aerobus)

Initially, this airline company operated with a fleet integrated by Boeing 737-300 aircraft. As of November 2022, this airline company reported the youngest fleet in Mexico and the second youngest fleet in North America, with an average age of only five years.

Fleet (Viva Air Colombia)

Initially, this airline company had two options for the operation of aircraft, the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. On November 10, 2011, it was announced to the people that in 2012, the aircraft chosen would be A320 fitted with the CFM 56 high performance engines for improved consumer prices.

Accidents and incidents

Airbus A320-200 which covered the Bogota-Medellin route took off with 182 people on February 4, 2015. However, 17 minutes later, a fire was registered in one of the engines of the airlines. Thus, the aircraft had to make an emergency landing at El Dorado International Airport. After reaching the ground, the firefighters controlled the problem in the engine. However, it generated panic among the passengers.